Accommodation Use by Individuals with Disabilities in Occupational Therapy Fieldwork
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Volume 3 Issue 4 Article 7 2019 Accommodation Use by Individuals with Disabilities in Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Rebecca Ozelie Rush University Megan Delehoy Rush University Sierra Jones Rush University Erin Sykstus Rush University Victoria Weil Rush University Follow this and additional works at: https://encompass.eku.edu/jote Part of the Occupational Therapy Commons Recommended Citation Ozelie, R., Delehoy, M., Jones, S., Sykstus, E., & Weil, V. (2019). Accommodation Use by Individuals with Disabilities in Occupational Therapy Fieldwork. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 3 (4). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2019.030407 This Original Research is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Occupational Therapy Education by an authorized editor of Encompass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Accommodation Use by Individuals with Disabilities in Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Abstract The number of individuals enrolling in postsecondary education with a diagnosed disability is rising. However, the literature reflects a gap between mandated institutional policies and the extent of accommodation use and success. This study examines the use, type, and prevalence of accommodations used by students with disabilities completing occupational therapy fieldwork otations,r as well as the common barriers to accommodation access. Snowball sampling methodology was utilized to send out a 26-item questionnaire to occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. Two hundred and ninety-two occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants answered the questionnaire to identify disability type, disclosure of disabilities, and types of accommodations used during fieldwork. Results indicated that 47 respondents (16.91%) reported having either a visible and/or invisible disability but of those respondents, only 25 (55.56%) disclosed their disability during postsecondary education. Of the respondents who identified having a disability during fieldwork, 22 (51.16%) perceived that their disability presented challenges, while only 17 (38.64%) requested accommodations. As more than half of respondents felt their disability presented challenges during their fieldwork, strategies are suggested to encourage students to feel more comfortable disclosing their disability. Through creating a culture of openness to disabilities and understanding individual student needs, there is a potential to help increase the rate of disclosure of disability and potentially decrease some of the challenges experienced by students with disabilities on fieldwork. urF ther research is needed to develop guidelines and programming for fieldwork educators on how to best incorporate accommodations into their programs. Keywords Fieldwork, accommodations, students with disabilities Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge Laura VanPuymbrouck, PhD, OTR/L, Marie Ferro-Lusk, MBA, MSW, LSW, and Lauren Little, PhD, OTR/L, for their thoughtful discussion and contribution to the manuscript. This original research is available in Journal of Occupational Therapy Education: https://encompass.eku.edu/jote/ vol3/iss4/7 Volume 3, Issue 4 Accommodation Use by Individuals with Disabilities in Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Rebecca Ozelie, DHS, OTR/L Megan Delehoy, Sierra Jones, Erin Sykstus, and Victoria Weil Rush University, Chicago United States ABSTRACT The number of individuals enrolling in postsecondary education with a diagnosed disability is rising. However, the literature reflects a gap between mandated institutional policies and the extent of accommodation use and success. This study examines the use, type, and prevalence of accommodations used by students with disabilities completing occupational therapy fieldwork rotations, as well as the common barriers to accommodation access. Snowball sampling methodology was utilized to send out a 26- item questionnaire to occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. Two hundred and ninety-two occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants answered the questionnaire to identify disability type, disclosure of disabilities, and types of accommodations used during fieldwork. Results indicated that 47 respondents (16.91%) reported having either a visible and/or invisible disability but of those respondents, only 25 (55.56%) disclosed their disability during postsecondary education. Of the respondents who identified having a disability during fieldwork, 22 (51.16%) perceived that their disability presented challenges, while only 17 (38.64%) requested accommodations. As more than half of respondents felt their disability presented challenges during their fieldwork, strategies are suggested to encourage students to feel more comfortable disclosing their disability. Through creating a culture of openness to disabilities and understanding individual student needs, there is a potential to help increase the rate of disclosure of disability and potentially decrease some of the challenges experienced by students with disabilities on fieldwork. Further research is needed to develop guidelines and programming for fieldwork educators on how to best incorporate accommodations into their programs. Published by Encompass, 2019 Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, Vol. 3 [2019], Iss. 4, Art. 7 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The number of graduate students with disabilities enrolled in postsecondary education is increasing (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). The National Center for Education Statistics (2019), in a profile of students in graduate education, reported that 11.9% of post baccalaureate students had some type of disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA; 2008) defines a person with a disability as an individual with a physical and/or mental impairment that limits their ability to engage in one or more major life activity. The literature often categorizes disabilities as being visible or invisible (Grimes, Scevak, Southgate, & Buchanan, 2017; Osborne, 2019; Ysasi, Becton, & Chen, 2018). The Invisible Disabilities Association defines (n.d.a.) invisible disabilities as conditions that limit a person’s ability to participate in activities but cannot be visibly seen by those around them. Visible disabilities, conversely, include all disabilities objectively observed by others (Invisible Disabilities Association, n.d.b). The increase in students with disabilities in postsecondary education can be partly attributed to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These pieces of legislation increased the rights of students with disabilities by protecting them against discrimination while also requiring college campuses to be accessible for all (Deckoff-Jones & Duell, 2018). One way to give students equal access to the learning environment is through reasonable accommodations. According to the ADA, reasonable accommodations may include making already established facilities accessible and usable to individuals with disabilities or “job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials or policies, the provision of qualified readers or interpreters, and other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities” (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2008). Schools are required to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities (Deckoff-Jones & Duell, 2018), which can include changes in equipment, techniques, or curriculum (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology, 2017). Disability services offices exist in most institutions of higher education (Thompson, 2018), and these disability services may offer individualized support through personalized accommodations; referral information; informing students of services; distribution of materials to students, faculty, and staff; and hosting educational sessions designed to inform and educate students about disabilities. Personalized accommodations are not intended to give students advantages over their peers, to change specific course features, or to decrease academic rigor. Instead, personalized accommodations are designed to ensure that students are given equal opportunities (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology, n.d.). Although students with disabilities are offered services at the institutional level, many students with disabilities continue to face barriers to successful accommodation use. This can result in lower attendance and decreased graduation rates compared to students without disabilities (Marshak, Wieren, Ferrell, Swiss, & Dugan, 2010). Collins and Mowbray (2005) surveyed over 275 schools across the nation regarding perceived https://encompass.eku.edu/jote/vol3/iss4/7 DOI: 10.26681/jote.2019.030407 Ozelie et al.: Accommodation Use and Fieldwork 3 barriers for students with disabilities. The results indicated that students enrolled in higher education reported barriers to accessing disability services which included: fear of disclosing, lack of knowledge by students or faculty of the services, fear of being stigmatized, lack of proper supported educational programs, not seeing themselves as having